Monday, April 12, 2010

Simple Truths To Live By (3)

There are Christians who believe that God gives them illnesses to chastise them, to teach them a lesson. This belief is totally wrong! 3 John 2 says "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers." Some Christians have said that this verse is just a standard Greek greeting but I believe that God is good (remember my simple truth no. 1?) and John, by the Holy Spirit, wrote this verse to show that it is God's will for us to be strong and healthy.

Pastor Prince just preached on this verse yesterday, showing us that we prosper and are in good health according to how our soul prospers, and our soul prospers by walking in the truth of the gospel. Well, my post today is not about Pastor Prince's sermon (but I strongly encourage you to invest in this sermon CD when it is released this coming Sunday) but to show you from God's Word that it is indeed His will for us to be strong and healthy, and therefore when you fall sick, know that the sickness is NOT from God and that God is definitely willing to heal you.

When you read through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, do you find any instance of God sending sickness and disease upon the people? No, what you find is Jesus healing ALL who came to him. Not one person who came to him left unhealed. Now, if you still believe that your sickness is sent by God to teach you a lesson, then aren't you going against the will of God when you seek treatment for your sickness? Shouldn't you remain sick until you have learnt whatever lesson there is to be learnt? This is so illogical, isn't it?

There are also some Christians who can believe that God is able to heal BUT they are not sure that God is willing to heal them. I think this doubt in their hearts is linked to their erroneous belief that they have to be worthy enough to receive God's healing. I used the word "receive" just now but actually what they really believe in their hearts is that they have to earn God's healing.

Let me now set the record straight for God: God's healing is a gift, freely given to you; it is not a reward for any of your good deeds or righteous living.

God's healing is free because Jesus has already paid the price for it:
" But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. " (Isaiah 53:5)

You ask, "Yes, the verse shows that God heals because of what Jesus has done but how do we know that God is willing to heal?" Well, Jesus in John 5:19 says "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.", and in John 14:9-10 says "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work."

In Mark 1:39-40, a leper comes up to Jesus and says “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”, and Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” You see, Jesus says "I am willing" and therefore God is also willing; "whatever the Father does the Son also does", and Jesus healed ALL who came to Him and therefore God will also heal you when you come to Him! Do you come to God to ask for healing? No, you come to God to thank Him for his healing because by Jesus' stripes we ARE HEALED. It is a done deal. What you are experiencing then are just symptoms and you can command the symptoms to leave your body because they have no right to be there since you are the healed of the Lord.

Many people, even Christians, will question why they see some Christians are healed of their sickness but some are not, even dying from their sickness. My short answer: I don't know. I just do my part and hold on to this simple truth that God wants me to strong and healthy, and this truth works for me.

4 comments:

Before I begin let it be clear that I am not making an argument against christianity. I merely wish to share my disagreement with a paragraph from your post above.

How does the fact that people seek treatment when sick show that god does not punish people through sickness? If it is truly gods will that you stay sick, then you ought to stay sick, it is an unusual concept but if you believe that it is gods will for you to be sick, it should not be illogical.

Hi Gooie,My point was ... there are some Christians believe that God gave them a sickness to teach them a lesson, and if they truly believe this, then they shouldn't seek treatment for their sickness since they would be going against God's will but in reality, these people DO seek treatment. That's why I say they are being illogical, contradicting their own belief.

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